I am an uneducated newbie. I saw the thread about the Harbor Freight blades a week or 2 ago and at that point had not had to buy blades. I was at our local fabric store Tuesday for thread (since there is no fabric dept at Walmart there is nowhere else in town to buy supplies) I also needed blades and thought, how much could they really be. I was talking to the machine technician instead of paying attention to what I was doing. I handed the clerk a pack of 5 blades for the 45mm cutter. I was in shock as my mouth dropped and I hesitantly handed over my debit card. When I got out of the store I looked at the receipt, $35 and change for a pack of 5 blades -- YIKES!!